Majority of the teams that we tend to struggle against have speed. It's why we stuggle against Colorado; it's part of the reason Winnipeg had a lot of shots; the last game against Chicago, they were flying, and we lost. We have trouble with teams that combine speed with skill. We should be going after a defenseman that can skate. They should be at least 6 foot, but they don't necessarily have to be a big crease clearer.

Majority of the teams that we tend to struggle against have speed. It's why we stuggle against Colorado; it's part of the reason Winnipeg had a lot of shots; the last game against Chicago, they were flying, and we lost. We have trouble with teams that combine speed with skill. We should be going after a defenseman that can skate. They should be at least 6 foot, but they don't necessarily have to be a big crease clearer.

Again; I don't see it.
The majority of the Blues' Losses have come against teams that out muscle us in the defensive zone(Nashville, Detroit, Minnesota), not against teams that are speed oriented.

I want an answer to guys like Franzen, Clowe, Lucic, Iginla and Fisher.
We're doing a good enough job containing speed guys.

I don't think it's a matter of crease clearing vs. speed, I think they just need someone who has playoff experience, can play 20ish minutes and take some pressure off Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk.

The "crease-clearer" needs to be physical enough to stop forwards from "camping out" near the crease and to impede opponents from getting off a clean shot near the net. He doesn't have to be a giant, but can't be small. A big reach would help (but not be completely necessary). The D-man would have to be good positionally, and able to skate decently (not be as immobile as some of the huge monsters). He should have good playoff experience. Someone who won't get bowled over, or shy away from contact, or allow the opponent to stay near the cease, and just try to poke-check the puck away. He must be a decent passer, and be able to skate the puck out of danger if necessary. He won't have to be a big asset on offence.

We need a RWer as weird as that sounds. With Dags and Steen potentially out for the year, we will need some depth there. I also think we should try to upgrade our D, but that won't be cheap or easy to swing.

The money factor is going to be a huge hurdle to overcome, because most sellers are not going to want to take much salary on and we can afford to take it on either.

Eh, I voted for yes because that would be the prudent thing to do if they're truly pushing for the division title/#1 seed.

Having an entire top 9 line out for an extended period is going leave our top forwards overplayed, and our defense exposed. If everyone's healthy by the playoffs, it's not that big of a deal (again, unless you're serious about pushing for the #1 overall)...but that's not a given either. This team is based on holding top talent in check and exploiting depth/system advantages. That advantage dissipates with each additional injury.

I would also like to see a smidge of remodeling done on defense. I've always leaned towards a combination of mobility/puck-moving ability/poise/intelligence/positioning over brute physicality at the expense of those attributes in my preference for defensemen, but physicality definitely has its place in the game.

I would like to see someone a bit more well-rounded brought in on defense than what Colaiacovo or Huskins brings to the table. Physicality would be a nice attribute, but only if the defender is mobile enough and has good enough puck skills to key the transition play well if the puck is consistently funnelled in his direction (as opposed to, say, Pietrangelo's) by other teams. We're playing right into their hands if every reverse from Pietrangelo to his partner leads to an icing, a turnover, or a bank out of the zone/missed breakout pass to the other team's defense. The Blues want to play in the offensive zone...they can't do that if they can't get there with the puck.

I think the Blues can afford to move anybody not named Tarasenko, Schwartz or Rattie to make to deep playoff run this year. I would even trade this years 1st,2nd and both 3rd's if needed. We have plenty of prospects.

I think the Blues can afford to move anybody not named Tarasenko, Schwartz or Rattie to make to deep playoff run this year. I would even trade this years 1st,2nd and both 3rd's if needed. We have plenty of prospects.

I would be very hesitant to move either Fairchild or Cole. We just don't have anything in the AHL level after those to. Everybody else is atleast 2-3 years away, and I am not sold on Ponich making the transitition.

The more I think about it the more I could see McRae moved or Bishop. Personally, I think Bishop will be moved to someone else - like Tampa or CBJ. And I also think the price could be pretty steep.

Finally, I don't see all that many teams willing to sell anything unless it is at a steep price.

I believe the Blues are legitimately a top 6 team in the enitre league this year, but lets be honest we don't have the financial resources to bring someone in to make a huge impact at the trade deadline. Therefore I say lets role with what we got and take our chances this year. It kinda seems like one of those special years like the Cardianls had where things are falling into place for us. In my opinion we should save our resources and cap space for an offseason move for Parise or Weber. If we get a new owner there is no doubt we will be signing a big time free agent in the offseason with the year we are having this year. Give Perron, Oshie, Bergulnd, Petro, and Stewart one more year to develop, plus add a big time free agent and I believe next year could be our year. That being said, Im curious if you could choose what would you rather have, a big time d-man like Weber or an imapct forward like Parise?

I would be very hesitant to move either Fairchild or Cole. We just don't have anything in the AHL level after those to. Everybody else is atleast 2-3 years away, and I am not sold on Ponich making the transition.

I'm not as doubtful about Ponich as you are, but I agree that he still needs a lot of polishing and refining before he's ready to bring his big frame to the NHL.

For an organization that had one of the best stables of defense prospects just a few years ago, the cupboard is starting to look a little bare for the Blues.

They only have five legitimate prospects on defense in Peoria - Cole, Fairchild, Ponich, Shields and Cundari. And I doubt either Shields or Cundari ever gets more than a cup of coffee or an emergency call-up to the NHL.

They have just two d-prospects in major junior - Beukeboom, who should turn pro next year, and Edmundson, who has another year of junior eligibility left after this year.

They have two decent prospects in Finland in Hakanpaa and Teemu Eronen, both of whom could turn pro next year. Both would be most welcome in Peoria, but Hakanpaa just went down for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, and there's no way to tell just yet how that will affect his development, and it's likely 50/50 at best if Eronen ever comes over at all.

This draft is deep in defense prospects, especially at the top, and I would not be averse to seeing the Blues trade up in the first round so they could draft a Griffin Reinhart or an Olli Maatta or a Jacob Trouba or a Cody Ceci. Give me another blue-chipper on defense, with a couple of years to play him in junior or college and develop him on someone else's dime.

...if you could choose what would you rather have, a big time d-man like Weber or an impact forward like Parise?

If the choice was literally between those two, I'd take Weber every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

No disrespect intended to Parise, whom I love as a player and would be overjoyed to see him in the 'Note, but Weber is the bomb. How good would a top four on defense of Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, Polak and Weber be for the next ten years?

I agree, we either need to draft a defenseman or an actual center in the 1st round.

Of the centers in the organization, only McRae and Lehtera have NHL potential IMO. Lehtera might never come over, and McRae might only be a bottom 6 player. We could really some more depth in the prospect pool at center.